


You'll be alright

by Rae_Saxon



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alcohol, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon
Summary: The Doctor is upset and the Master doesn't ask any questions, just takes care of her and in turn, he can feel something inside him heal.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 227





	You'll be alright

**Author's Note:**

> I asked for innocent, harmless cute fluff prompts and, as always when I attempt to write fluff, it turned into slightly angsty hurt and comfort instead, so I'm sorry to the person on Tumblr, who prompted "The Master reads to the Doctor"............... I think I hijacked your fluff prompt and turned it into h/c. :D

Most people did not know how to whistle ironically, but it was an art the Master had perfected.

He was humming a cheerful, little melody, throwing in a low whistle once in a while, as he walked through the cold night street of New York 1997, back to his TARDIS.

He was also feeling dead inside, whistling out of spite, whistling out of deadliness, feeling it run through his veins, the only thing keeping him going. Maybe someone was going to die tonight, maybe he was simply going to soak up the adrenaline to keep him sane another night, maybe he wouldn't shrink them today, but simply disintegrate or maybe he would shrink and then smash them underneath his shoe.

He turned around and looked at his TARDIS, currently disguised as a tree near the central park, and saw a figure crouch before it, a nasty grin spreading on his face.

There was his perfect opportunity.

He stepped closer, still whistling his little song, now feeling like it was the deadly soundtrack to both of their demises. But when he finally reached his TARDIS, had already raised his hand to get his TCE out, the song suddenly got stuck in his throat.

He frowned, all pretence, all self-mocking falling from him.

“Doctor?”

She didn't seem to have heard him. He wouldn't even had recognised her if it wasn't for the stupid rainbow shirt and the yellow suspenders still shining through the dark a little. Her coat was sprawled out around her and her face was buried in her hands, as she was quietly weeping, her shoulders trembling from the efforts of keeping in the sounds.

The Master only hesitated for a second, then kneeled down before her, reaching out his hand, trying to grab her shoulders, but then stopped himself, letting it sink with a heavy feeling in his stomach.

He could still hear it in his mind, her all surrounding “ _never_ ,” her words spoken to him in disgust, her admission of how much _more_ she was than him.

“Doctor?” he asked again, his voice hoarse.

He had never liked not knowing what to do.

She looked up this time, strands of blond hair sticking to her wet cheeks as her eyes searched his, wide and full of sorrow and so, so helpless.

“What's wrong?” he asked, before he could stop himself. Rocks and rocks of hate and anguish and pain and old, old rivalries simply fell off him when he saw her like that, vaporised into a cloud of worry instead.

He could smell alcohol in her breath.

“Everything,” she whispered back and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “Everything, Master.”

His hearts beat faster, his face twitched and he tried to find words, any words, any reassurance, but there was nothing. Just heavy bricks in his hearts, reminding him painfully how well he understood what she was feeling right now.

And a tiny little voice in his mind, telling him that she had come to _him_ in that state.

“Come on,” he finally said and got up, his hands moving towards her yet again to help her up, then stopped before he let them drop again.

This time, she saw.

Stumbling, she got back to her feet, but before he could push open his TARDIS door and let her in, he saw the Doctor sway slightly, then losing balance, before falling straight into his arms.

He raised his arms in surprise, then pulled her closer with a sigh as he felt her arms wrap around his hip. She let his chin crash against his chest, letting out a little whimper, but her trembling calmed somewhat while he held her. He let his hands run over her back, rubbing reassuringly.

“It'll be alright,” he whispered, because he didn't know what else to say, and it usually did. For her, in any case.

Things hadn't been alright for him in a very long time.

But she had the talent of brushing pain off like dust on a coat, to leave everything behind and simply start anew, a talent he had both cursed and envied her for.

The Master held her away from himself for a little moment, stroking away a strand of her that was still sticking to her face, then looked into her eyes intently, hands on her shoulders.

“Hey, I mean it. You will be fine. Let's get you inside, have you warm up a bit, make you some tea, yeah?”

She nodded and he finally led her inside, feeling his stomach do a backflip when he felt her little, cold hand wrap into his, and he pressed down tightly, a thumb rubbing over her skin as they walked.

He led her into his kitchen, sitting her down with another worried frown, then quickly put on some water.

“Want a blanket or something?” he asked. “You look like you're freezing, hell, your lips are blue.”

Now that he was seeing her with some lights on, he could also see there were little branches and leaves caught in her hair and dirt smudges on her face.

“Did something happen?”

She shrugged weakly, her voice very meek when she spoke.

“I was waiting for you. Climbed on the tree. Fell down. Didn't hurt, though,” she added when she saw the look on his face.

“Don't... don't drunkenly climb trees, Doctor.” He couldn't help a little laugh escape his lips as he poured her some tea and pressed a huge cup into her hands. She looked at it with a frown.

“Grandfather of the century?”

“Yeah, didn't you know?”

She grinned.

“Must've slipped my attention.”

He smiled with a hint of relief. Her grin wasn't quite reaching her eyes, which were still red and puffy, but she had stopped crying, at least.

“What can I say? I'm an expert in absolutely every field.”

“I'd like to see you with grey hair, sitting on a rocking chair, telling your grand-kids stories of how you failed taking over the universe, not once, not twice, but 649 times, you expert on every field.”

Now, there was definitely a hint of her old cheek in her voice and the Master gave her a rather playful little glare as she took another sip of tea.

“It's 468. No need to round up, love.”

“Well, you're not a grandfather, yet.”

They exchanged a look and she quickly let her eyes sink back to her cup of tea, neither of them wanting to speak what they both thought in this moment.

“I do want a blanket,” she finally muttered into the sudden tension, but when he got up to get one, she grabbed his wrist. Confused, he stopped, and she took a last sip of her tea, then got up, intertwining her fingers yet again with his.

He stared at her helplessly and she sighed.  
  
“You're really bad at this stuff this time around, aren't you?” she finally asked with the beginning of a smirk.

“With what?” he asked, sudden dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. “Taking care of people? That's not a recent thing. Always been bad at that. Don't know why you came here. Could've tried one of your human pets, maybe they...”

She kissed his lips, then, softly and unbearably short. He froze.

“No need to lash out,” she whispered and he blinked, before his brain caught up, and yep, he had a tendency to do that immediately when insecurity came up, didn't he?

Funny that.

“What would you want?” the Doctor asked. “If you were in my place?”

That wasn't too hard to imagine. All he had wanted ever since he had woken up on that cold forest floor, wearing a far too tight corset and torn the remnants of his bloody clothes off his body to escape, all he had felt ever since the cold realisation had settled in that he had been left behind by absolutely everyone, including himself, he had only ever craved one thing.

“Well... you.”

“Well, then,” she smiled and it was that knowing, annoying smile she always did, making him sure that she was going to be okay.

The Master rolled his eyes.

“Well then,” he repeated, taking the lead, their hands still intertwined as he led her into his bedroom.

They laid down together and he grabbed his warmest blanket, wrapping it around both of them. The Doctor was only a little bit smaller than he was this time around (and how new that was for them), but he still managed to hold her in his arms, chin on her head, hands reassuringly wrapped around her waist, holding her tight against him.

She sighed and curled up against his chest, eyes closed, but he could still hear her mind humming close to his, awake and troubled.

Instinctively, he let his eyes wander around the room, looking for something to distract her with, and found a book on his night stand. He grabbed it quickly and her eyes flung open when she felt one hand leaving her waist.

“Oh, are you going to read for me?” she asked, smiling softly and he nodded, turning the book to show her the cover.

One of the Doctor's eyebrows shot up.

“Tom Sawyer?”

“Very relatable character, what can I say?” he smirked, before he began reading.

It was quite lovely, with the Doctor silently curled up in his arms, listening to his voice. He could hear her mind hum in pleasure as her nerves slowly slowed down and her eyes gradually fell shut again and enjoyed it far more than he had thought he would.

It had been awhile, since anyone had ever trusted him enough to fall asleep in his arms. Been a while since someone had calmed by his voice, instead of shuddered in dread. Been so long since... well... he had been touched as inimitably as they were touching now.

“It's nice,” the Doctor murmured, her voice sleepy now. “You've got a nice voice. Always have.”

The Master just smiled, giving her a little kiss on the head. He could tell she was about to fall asleep, but he kept on reading until his voice was raw and the Doctor's breath had evened, then put the book aside and turned off the lights, shifting slightly to not wake her up and laid down beside her.

She was going to be alright.

He was very, very far from alright, but right now, at least she was here to remind him there was alright somewhere in his life, was there to sometimes, just drunkenly stumble onto his doorstep, showing him that alright needed him to survive.

And that was really all he needed.


End file.
